Things we've learned/modified over the last 23 years of Disney trips:
1. We used to only get 5 days of tickets for a 7 day stay. Then we booked under the Buy 4, Get 3 free deal in 2009 and we had tickets for every day. What a difference. We went to EP on arrival day for just a few hours and on our usual down/resort day we went to DHS for a few hours in the evening and to watch Fantasmic. We realized that having tickets for every day of our stay meant we didn't have to try and cram everything into 5 park days. We could slow down a bit and tour more casually.
2. Along those same lines, we've eliminated the "no parks" days of our trips. We found ourselves wishing we were at a park most of those days anyway. So we now compromise. We have 2 or 3 days during our stay when we sleep in and usually hang out at the resort or DS for a few hours and then head to a park later in the afternoon. Even if we only spend a few hours in the park those days, it feels more productive for us and again, it allows us to slow down because we don't feel like we need to cram everything in to 4 or 5 park days. If we rope drop a park, we take a break in the afternoon. We actually found ourselves much more tired on the trips were we took a day or two off from the parks because we spent more hours per day in the parks on those trips. We might feel differently if we went for longer amounts of time (I think if we did 9 or more days, we'd probably take a day off in the middle) or if we visited more often (we go every other year).
3. There is no need to carry everything you *might* need to the parks. After several trips of lugging a big crossbody bag full of crap to the parks, an unplanned stop at AK after shopping and lunch at DS made me realize I did need that bag. I thought our few hours at AK would be terrible because I didn't have our "stuff". Guess what. I didn't need any of that stuff. And I realized that 99% of stuff in that bag had never been used in 20+ park days over the years. After that day, if it didn't fit in our pockets, it didn't go to the parks. And 30+ park days later, we haven't missed or needed anything that was in that bag. I realize if you've got kids in diapers, you still need to take some type of a bag to the parks. Our youngest was 4 years old when I stopped carrying the bag. (Side note: We chose not take our kids to DW until they were 4 years old (we either planned our trips accordingly or one trip we left the 1 & 2 year old at home with the grandparents -- zero regrets on that one.). So I *never* had to deal with a diaper bag or stroller for my kids while there. I have no regrets about that either. We've done 2 trips to Disney with our son's family (one trip with a 1 yo child and the other trip was with a 5 yo and a 5 mo). Those 2 trip confirmed for me that we made the right decision *for our family* to not take the kids until they were old enough to not need a diaper bag, stroller, or nap. I realize not everyone agrees with that plan. That's ok. Everyone should do what works for them.
4. We don't lug snacks and drinks to the park with us. We usually grab a bottle of water from the room (and occasionally a small snack like almonds or beef jerky -- something that easily fits in a pocket) as we head to the park, but that's it. No insulated backpack or wagon full of food and drinks. We realized very early on that we preferred to just buy our drinks and snacks in the parks whenever we were hungry and/or thirsty. Yes, it costs us a few hundred dollar to do this on an 8-day trip (with 4 adults in our immediate family -- our youngest child is 18) but none of us have the desire to lug that stuff with us to save a little money. I'd rather save up money for an extra month or two before the trip than to worry about trying to save that money on vacation. YMMV.
5. We stopped making ADRs for TS meals for the most part. It allow us to not have to plan everything around our meals. There have always been same day TS ADRs available while we're there but we also have found numerous QS restaurants to just sit and chill at for a nice slow-paced casual meal. Disney life is so much easier without the stress of ADRs. And the reality is, I don't know where I want to eat today, let alone a few month from now. And we have far better restaurants at home than most of the Disney TS restaurants anyway (and we've never been character meal people). Again, YMMV.
6. And from our most recent trip --
Genie+ is almost a necessity during busy times. We used it every day of our trip last June and it was worth every penny. We also used ILLs every day. Yes, it's just more extra costs but again, I'll save up money for a little longer (or save at a more aggressive rate) before our trip rather than go without these things. I'd rather spend $10K on vacation and enjoy ourselves thoroughly than to spend $9K and spend hours and hours standing in line each day and have everyone complaining about that. By our estimates (based on actual standby wait times compared to our wait times for LL & ILL for the same rides), Genie+/ILL saved us at least 2 hours of time every day (sometimes more) which allowed us to have more down time at the resort or to get on more attractions. I was always awake by 7:00 a.m. anyway (I'm used to getting up at 5:00 a.m.) and I was not staring at my phone all day. I'd book something, set an alarm for 10 minutes before I could book the next thing, and put my phone away. We feel like we can probably cut a day off of our stay next time if Genie+ is still in it's current form by then. Our days were far more relaxed and efficient with Genie+ (and we *loved* FP+ and used it very effectively on our previous trips). And once again, YMMV.
